Cross appeal due in Arizona sweat-lodge case

FLAGSTAFF — The state attorney general’s office says it will file a cross appeal Monday in the case of a self-help author imprisoned for the deaths of three people in a sweat lodge ceremony he led.

The Arizona Court of Appeals set the deadline after granting three requests for an extension and threatened to sanction a state prosecutor if the latest deadline isn’t met.

Attorneys for James Arthur Ray are seeking to have his conviction on three counts of negligent homicide overturned or a new trial. The appeal alleges violations of state law in jury instructions and prosecutorial misconduct.

Trial prosecutor Sheila Polk has said monetary sanctions imposed on the prosecution, a ruling that her office broke disclosure rules and the preclusion of some witnesses would be among the challenges in the cross appeal.

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